I want to emphasize again in this video, the importance of evaluating your child who is on the Autism spectrum for clostridia bacteria. Let me break it down a couple of different ways because there is some confusion in the community about what clostridia is. There is a type of clostridia called clostridia difficile. Now clostridia difficile has been known for a long time to be a really bad bug. It is becoming a worsening problem in the hospital setting because of the resistance to treatment and also the increased potential for cross infection among patients. And clostridia difficile at its core can lead to a serious inflammatory bowel condition called Pseudomembranous Colitis.

So clostridia difficile is sort of in its own category but it is part of the clostridia family. Now clostridia difficile can also produce a toxin called 4-Cresol and 4-Cresol actually will inhibit enzymes or an enzyme in the brain that can lead to a disruption of dopamine. So think of clostridia difficile as its own category of a bacteria that is really bad and certainly needs to be evaluated with anybody on the Autism spectrum. The way it is best analyzed is through the Organic Acids Test from Great Plains Laboratory. You can also do the Microbial Organic Acids Test from Great Plains because the Microbial Organic Acids Test is looking specifically at the yeast and bacterial markers.

Another marker called HPHPA comes from a group of other clostridia. See you have to think of clostridia as a family and none of them are good but you’ve got certain members of that family which are really bad. HPHPA is identifying the presence of other types of clostridia family members, not clostridia difficile but other member of the clostridia family. And it too, just like the 4-Cresol, will inhibit an enzyme that effects dopamine metabolism. And I’ll talk in the next video about what are some of the implications of actually having high values of 4-Cresol and high HPHPA with respects the Autistic condition that we so often see in anybody who is dealing with clostridia but certainly any child on the Autism spectrum, teenager or adult who is having behavioral problems, learning problems, that clostridia can be a really bad bug.

If you’re a parent of a child who is on the Autism spectrum and you live in the northwest, Oregon or Washington, I wanted to make you aware that I am now living in Bend Oregon which is in central Oregon. And I am seeing patients in Oregon or anybody who can make it here to see me for in-person consultations. Now I do a lot of traveling so I still consult with patients in California in various locations but I wanted people to realize that I am also here in the northwest and available for consultations as well. If you want to find out more information about me in general you can go to my general website www.drwoeller.com. If you’d like to schedule a consultation you can do so through my contact information at info@mysunrisecenter.com or by calling 951-461-4800.

Let’s review what we know with respects to biomedical therapies for Autism and really what has been most successful over the years. I’ve done talks like this before whether it is through my websites, lectures, articles I’ve written about. But I just wanted to give you a quick overview so that you know going in that there are certain therapies which tend to give a higher percentage of improvement than others.

First up dietary intervention is huge, it always has been. So one of the tried and true remedies for Autism intervention is the gluten and casein free diet and honestly it continues to be a significant therapy for the vast majority of kids that do it. Another is comprehensive supplement therapy in many respects. Some kids with Autism have a very limited diet. And so they are not getting a broad based nutrition through the food they eat so often they are nutrient deprived. What I will do initially with some kids is put them on some initial supplements whether it is B vitamins, minerals, probiotics, essential fats, these have a healing effect for many. So we know that vitamin therapy in general, it’s too broad of a discussion to get into each individual vitamin or mineral but supplement therapy in general tends to be helpful. Another is treating chronic infections and this is again a broad discussion. But looking at bacterial issues, looking at yeast problems, parasitic infections and treating those particularly with respects to the gut issues has a tremendous benefit with respects to kids’ development who are on the Autism spectrum.

Now a therapy that is gaining recognition and has been around actually for quite some time but getting more and more recognition within the Autism community is a therapy called MMS which is showing tremendous benefit for these particular individuals on the spectrum who have deep seated, chronic resistant infections. Methyl B-12 therapy, specifically the Methyl B-12 injections, significant. Over the years, this is why to me it is a tried an true remedy that I feel the vast majority of kids should try. There other therapies as well that are, I consider, to be tried and true. Respen-A therapy, Respen-A as a homeopathic application of a specific herb called Reserpine has shown great benefit with respects to social improvement, language, less sensory issues, overall mood improvement. In my practice Respen-A has become a standard or tried and true therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT is also a significant biomedical therapy in this menu of things that we have to choose from to help many kids on the Autism spectrum.

And that really rounds out the greater application of biomedical intervention. There are other immune therapies that are helpful, Ibuprofen and anti-viral therapy for sure. There can be other supportive therapies as well but that really hits at the crux of it. The dietary intervention, nutrient support, digestive eradication, elimination if you will of gut pathogens, methylation support, Respen-A brain chemistry support, hyperbaric oxygen therapy with respects to improving body metabolism decreasing brain inflammation. So think about those, have those on your list of things to consider for your child if you’re looking to implement biomedical interventions with respects to their Autism.

Let me give you an update on Respen-A therapy. To learn more about Respen-A you can go to the website www.respen-a.com. There is a new version of Respen that is showing even greater benefit with respects to the previous versions. And we know that Respen is very helpful for language development, particularly improvements in complexity of language, purposeful speech, improvements in social engagement, less sensory issues, less self-stimulatory problems with individuals on the Autism spectrum.

And the newer version is actually having less of a hyperactivity stimulating effect in some kids that the previous versions had. The problem wasn’t significant in the past but it is even less now. And of course like any child or any individual on the Autism spectrum, their own individual sensitivity to any particular therapy is going to be very individualized. But in my experience the new Respen is showing tremendous success and I want you to know about it.

The other nice thing about the new Respen version that there is less supportive supplements that often have to be taken along with it. So there is less things essentially that you have to give. Calcium is still important and we are still trying to avoid a lot of the essential fatty acid supplements that tend to interfere with Respen but there is less other supplements that need to go along with it which makes it desirable. So again if you want to learn more about Respen-A therapy go to www.respen-a.com. I also have a section on www.AutismActionPlan.com which is my membership site and you can also post me questions through the parent forum at www.AutismActionPlan.com as well with respects to Respen-A therapy or a wide variety of other biomedical therapies that you are researching.

The thyroid gland is an important gland in our body with respects to metabolism. It really helps with energy production throughout the body. Whether it is our immune system, our cardiovascular system including our heart, our lungs, our bones, our gut, our brain specifically and without good thyroid output we tend to run deficits in energy production. In many kids on the Autism spectrum we know that there are underlying medical problems which contribute to many of their issues. We know that research points to the fact that there are methylation chemistry problems which can affect attention and focusing, we know there are mitochondrial imbalances with can influence negatively metabolism throughout the body and energy production as well. We know that there can be immune system imbalances, digestive problems, etc.

One of the things that doesn’t get a lot of attention is thyroid imbalances. And the thyroid is often either not assessed or under assessed with respects to Autism. In patients with various mental health problems, depression, bipolar, etc., many times thyroid dysfunction is a contributing factor and often optimizing thyroid function helps to really improve the overall mental status and health status of patients. So I want you to be aware of the importance of thyroid function in Autism as something to just assess for your child’s overall health.

So if you are doing a blood chemistry test or any type of blood testing for your child, make sure that your doctor includes a thyroid panel and specifically what you want to look at is what’s called TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone, free T4, and free T3. Now these are important because the free fraction of those hormones, specifically the free T3 is what is acting physiologically at the cellular level. You can also add what is called a reverse T3 and if the body is producing a lot of reverse T3 it will actually inhibit thyroid function as well and often that goes missed. So TSH, free T4 and free T3.

Now personally I like to see the free T4 and the free T3 in the upper 2/3 of normal in its reference range. Often if they are low many times I will use natural thyroid such as Westhroid or Armour Thyroid etc. to try and replenish thyroid function. That is not something necessarily we do forever, but sometimes 6 months to a year just to see if we can re-establish thyroid function. And often times it helps with energy and brain function and cognitive function and even growth.

So again the thyroid is something important to assess and I recommend that any parent who is having their child be assessed by a physician with respects to blood work to make sure you include a thyroid panel, the TSH, the free T4 and the free T3. A couple other things that you could also add to that panel to rule out that an auto-immune process may be occurring is something called anti-TPO and an anti-thyroid globulin antibodies. If there are antibodies being produced to the thyroid gland then that indicates that there is some type of auto-immune process that is likely affecting the thyroid adversely so that would be really a complete thyroid panel. But minimally the TSH, the free T3 and the free T4 are critically important to look at.

One of the things that I have seen in my practice with respects to chronic constipation, I’ve spoken about constipation before, but one thing we are starting to recognize is that many kids on the spectrum not only have problems and digestive issues which we’ve known for a while but the regulatory aspect with respects to the nervous system’s input to help with that sensation to have a bowel movement is compromised. So you know the things like magnesium and vitamin C and probiotics and sometimes laxatives can help and they are necessary for chronic states of constipation. What often goes unrecognized in persistent constipation when kids are not responding to dietary intervention, fiber, these other supplements is the potential for an underlying worm infection.

I have actually used a remedy called Vermox, also known as Mebendazole. Mebendazole or Vermox is actually an anti-worm medication, it comes in a chewable tablet that’s specifically used for pin worms. Typically one dose of 100 mg chewable tablet is appropriate for most pin worm infections. But sometimes we need to use it a little bit longer, particularly for things like round worms or other types of worm infections that are more persistent so I’ll commonly, if I am going to dose Vermox we’ll dose it instead of one time, one day, use 100 mg chewable tablet twice daily for 3 days. And this has worked quite well for some kids with chronic constipation and helping to relieve that constipation. If that happens then we know that a worm infection is very likely. And I say likely because it’s difficult actually to find a worm on a stool test so you may have done a comprehensive digestive stool analysis and not found a worm and that is not uncommon.

What I’ve also done for certain cases of constipation where they are not resolved because of other remedies is use the Vermox for 3 days then take a 2 week break and repeat it again for another 3 days at 100 mg chewable tablet twice daily for 3 days. So a common prescription could just be Vermox, 100 mg chewable tablet, 1 twice daily for 3 days and then have an automatic refill that is refilled 2 weeks later and take it again. So this is something to consider, discuss with your doctor if your child continues to have chronic constipation and the other remedies or laxatives, etc. just aren’t working.

I wanted to make everyone aware that my previous webinars, particularly webinars that have dealt with Methyl B-12 therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, supplement therapy, yeast, biofilms, cerebral folate deficiency, brain inflammation, understanding brain regions and Autism and a host of other topics are now available for immediate viewing at a new website called Autism Seminars on Demand (www.AutismSeminarsOnDemand.com). What we did is we went back and re-recorded these presentations in their entirety with professional audio and synchronized them with the presentation slides. Many of them an hour, an hour and fifteen to an hour and a half long, packed full of information. These are immediately available for viewing on Autism Seminars on Demand (www.AutismSeminarsOnDemand.com). You can also have access as a downloadable file, the actual slide presentations from my previous webinars. So if you are looking to further your knowledge with respects to biomedical intervention to help your child, to help your grandchild, a family member or a friend, it is a great place to access this information. Again that is www.AutismSeminarsOnDemand.com.

If you are about to start supplements with your child who is on the Autism spectrum, take my word of advice, don’t start everything at once. If you’ve got a list of supplements from your doctor, whether it is 3 items, 5, 10, my recommendation and my clinical experience in years of practice is start one thing at a time, particularly in the beginning of any type of biomedical program. And the reason is, many kids on the Autism spectrum are very, very sensitive, physically, mentally, emotionally to therapy. If you start everything at one time you’re not necessarily going to know what is working or what may be causing a problem. Not that we’re talking about serious side effects from supplement therapy but you want to be able to know how well they’re adjusting, how well they are progressing to a particular therapy.

Now what is going to happen over time is your kids are going to be on multiple things. They are going to be doing dietary intervention, they will be on supplement therapy, maybe they’re treating for yeast, maybe you’re doing Methyl B-12, whatever it may be. But in the beginning I always try to isolate down and start one thing at a time. B-12 for example, Methyl B-12 injections is a perfect example of this. We would like to start this for at least 5 to 6 weeks, ideally 6 weeks, without starting any other therapy. If I am going to start supplements and I have 5 or 6 things, I will typically tell the parent and give them a list of where I want them to start and they start at the top of the list and work our way down. Typically introducing a new supplement every 1 to 2 days because I want to know and I want them to give me feedback on positive changes as well as negative changes. I also have parents get a little notebook calendar where they can mark down what day they started a therapy or a supplement and make a little note as to what they observed. So, again if you rush into it and you start too many things at once and your child has a negative reaction you’re not going to know did it. Be patient, start one thing at a time and you will have much greater success long term in doing supplement therapy and other biomedical therapies for your child.

One of the things I’ve seen in practice over the years is when parents try to figure out with their child is the behavior they are seeing related to Autism or is it age appropriate. If you are a parent who has a neurotypical child that may be older than your Autistic son or daughter you’ve got some kind of reference point to look back on. How did they develop? How did they progress? At what age were you starting to see certain behaviors? You have to apply that to your Autistic child. If you are a parent who only has a child on the Autism spectrum and you don’t have another child in your family to reference to it can be a little more difficult because what you are trying to determine is is what you are seeing behaviorally somehow related to the neurological condition or is it just typical for kids that age.

What I recommend parents do is buy some books on childhood development. And there are a series of books that you can go to any book store and find these typically. And there are books that talk about age development from a certain age whether it is birth to two years or two years to five years. Depending on where your child is in age, whether they are 3, 4, 5 years old, and they are also on the Autism spectrum, is read about what is typical for kids that age because not everything is Autism. Some of it just may be the fact that they are a typical age and manifesting with age appropriate behavior.

One other tidbit of information I want to give you is when you start implementing a therapy, whether it is biomedical therapy and sometimes non biomedical therapies, speech therapy, behavioral therapy, etc. many times kids on the spectrum come out of their fog so to speak. And they start becoming more aware of what is around them. The environmental awareness increases so even though they may be age 5, they might now be manifesting with behavior of a 3 year old or 3 ½ year old. I’ve seen kids who were 6, 7 years old and being lifted out of this Autistic condition, and for many of them they become more aware, their speech is improved, their socialization improves, they have less anxiety but now they are doing some immature behavior because they haven’t quite caught up. So that has to be appreciated too. So think of that, think of that with respects to your kids, is the behavior you are seeing typical for Autism or just typical for their age?

If you like the information that I put forth in these videos and if you’ve joined me on my webinars through Great Plains Laboratory which I do once a month on a Wednesday, usually at the beginning of the month but make sure you check with Great Plains Laboratory for the schedule for each webinar regarding a specific topic on biomedical intervention. Then if you like the information I put forth I think you’ll also then like having access to this information through a website we’ve created called www.biomedicineuniversity.com.

What I have done is I’ve gone through many of my most popular presentations, redone the slides, we’ve converted those into a color PDF that you can immediately have as a download. Many of those presentations are also recorded as an audio file and then merged together essentially as a movie file that you can access as well.

Some things that I have done recently, one particular topic called Brain Regions and their Dysfunction in Autism goes through in depth the different areas in the brain. The frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, etc. and looking at different areas that are often dysfunctional in Autism and try and get a better understanding of what’s happening at that neuro-anatomical level. So that has been a popular one.

Another presentation I have done is brain inflammation, specifically brain inflammation with respects to microglia, microglia being these immune cells in the brain that are often activated in Autism leading to chronic inflammation. That information is there as well. But there is a whole host of other presentations on yeast, on biofilms, on supplements, on oxytocin, cholesterol, Respen-A therapy, methyl B-12 therapy, etc. So if you want to keep abreast of the information I am putting out, certainly join me at www.greatplainslaboratory.com once a month for my webinars and you can register through Great Plains Laboratory. And then you have constant access to information as well through www.biomedicineuniversity.com.